History of Ideas 3: Thoreau

Episode three in our series about the great political essays is about Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience’ (1849), a ringing call to resistance against democratic idiocy. Thoreau wanted to resist slavery and unjust wars. How can one citizen turn the tide against majority opinion? Was Thoreau a visionary or a hypocrite? And what do his arguments say about environmental civil disobedience today?Read Thoreau’s essay hereFrom the LRB:Paul Laity on Thoreau and self-sufficiencyJeremy Harding on XR and civil disobedience  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.